Michael Vey: Destruction of the Philippines
by Aetrus201
Summary: The Electroclan has found a shocking new electric child. They head off to Ohio to find him, but they get more then they are expecting. Please R&R!


_1_

Hatch slid the door open to reveal a room completely pitch-black, with the exception of a lone figure huddled in the corner, giving off a faint light. Food scraps were piled in the corner opposite where Quentin sat. The cell was filled with an unbearable stench, from the "bathroom", as Hatch liked to call it, or the pot that was filled with urine. "Quentin," Hatch said, shaking his head in disgust. "I trusted you. You were the second in command. You would have inherited the Elgen, inherited the world in enough time. I GAVE you Tuvalu! And then, you betray me, letting your emotions get the better of you, to release EGG Welch, a lesser to you? You have tried to disillusion yourself, but there was nothing to find. You have failed me, and your family."

"He…was a father to me," groaned Quentin. Quentin was wearing an RESAT vest, set to make him practically immobile, so all Quentin could do was sit and die. "I…I wanted to believe that I could help him and you with showing some mercy."

"MERCY?!" screamed Hatch, putting the guard outside the door on high alert. "You, expect me to show mercy? You have become weak, Quentin. Too weak to lead the Elgen, too weak to lead the Glows, too weak to lead the Hatch Islands, and even too weak to lead yourself!" Hatch shook his head in disgust, and Quentin looked down in despair. "You have…disappointed me."

"I don't care what you think!" screamed Quentin, who immediately buckled in pain, then fell promptly onto the floor. "You…thought that you could kill anyone in the world to kill power. But the Glows will still rise and rebel. You could never beat me or Mich-" He was cut short, as Hatch stormed over and smacked him across the face. Quentin groaned.

"I have already beaten you, Quentin. Your "friends" are in there own respective cells, slowly withering away. As for the terrorists, they already are falling into my plans. They will help me without knowing it! Then, the Elgen, me, will rise to the top of the world, while you and your pathetic friends will fall straight into Hell." Hatch swiftly turned, and slammed his foot into Quentin's ribcage, making him roll over and clutch his side, making the RESAT send off a quick burst, leaving him groaning and screaming. Hatch shook his head one last time, and strolled out into the open doorway, slamming it shut, and sending Quentin into darkness once again.

 _2_

Michael was sleeping peacefully in his room at the Christmas Ranch, when a knocking noise split through his ears. "Huzzaht?" mumbled Ostin, rolling over to look at the door. The noise came again, this time with a voice.

"Come, on sleepy heads, the council wants to talk to us," Taylor continued to pound on the door.

"Okay, already!" Michael mumbled. "We're coming, we're coming. Don't get your panties in a twist."

Ostin looked over to Michael. "Really? You use that cliché?" Michael shrugged.

"Let's just go. Probably something important is happening, if they're going to wake us up at," he glanced at the clock, and then frowned, "7:30." Ostin sniggered. This was one of their longer rests; they normally got about 3 or 4 hours to nap. Michael slid out of bed, picked out his clothes, and went into the bathroom to take a shower. While Michael got ready, Ostin stretched and yawned, which was equivalent to running a lap around the gym for him. Ostin was, and agreed, that he was overweight, but his IQ made it up. Ostin was very proud of his 155, the average IQ of a Nobel Peace Prize winner. He was not electric, a Nonel, as Hatch liked to call them. Michael, on the other hand was the most powerful of all electric children. He could shock people, or kill them, through direct contact or conduction. Plus, he can create electric "balls" and throw them at people, and can create a little bit of magnetic force, which allows him to scale walls, and deflect bullets. Ostin yawned again, and sat up. He walked out of the door into the conference room, full of the rest of the Electroclan. He took a free seat on the left side of the rectangular table.

"Where's Michael?" Taylor asked, glancing over at Ostin. "You know we can't hold this meeting without him."

"Relax, he'll be here soon. He's taking a shower." Ostin looked over the rest of the Electroclan. Zeus and Tara were next to each other, McKenna was right next to Ostin, and Ian, Abby, Jack and the others were sitting across from him on the right side of the table. The council was sitting at the top of the table, opposite of where Michael would sit. Footsteps echoed across the room, and the Electroclan looked over. Michael strolled down the stairs and sat down.

"So," the chairman started, "you have been called here to discuss and important matter." He leaned in, "The Elgen are sending their new battleship, towards the United States. We don't know what its motive is, but knowing Hatch, he is bound to have a horrific idea on mind. We, of course, need the Electroclan's help to find out what's going on, and if possible, sink it before it can do anything."

Michael thought about it for a second. "You want us to sink a ship, more protected and dangerous than the _Ampere,_ without even knowing what it's going to **do**? I mean, of course Hatch has something planned, but this is more of a suicide mission then the _Ampere_ and rescuing Jade Dragon. Something is going to happen. Something," He paused the looked over at Jack, before gulping and saying, "worse than Wade's death." Jack blanched. The chairman frowned.

"We won't send you on the quest until we find what the Elgen have in store, but we want you to be ready," The chairman took a deep breath, "But that's not all. We have had reports of someone who could help. He's a genius, much like your friend Ostin here." Ostin grinned. He likes being called a genius, he calls it 'recognition of the obvious' which he then also points out that most people seem not to have. "The strange thing is, his IQ is not stable," The chairman continued. "It once blasted full-throttle at 230-" Ostin's jaw gaped, "-and has been going up and down in the 160s to 200s as of late. He is only 15." Silence. Ostin felt like he was going to explode.

"15!" he shrieked. "He is 15, and has an IQ of 230?!" The chairman nodded, trying to calm Ostin down.

"He is extraordinary," he agreed. Ostin was looking around, tapping his fingers on the table to keep calm. If you didn't know him, you would think he was the one with Tourette's. "But that is not all," he looked Michael in the eye, and said very slowly, "Aetrus is the 18th electric child."

 _3_

You could hear a pin drop in the meeting hall. Ostin panicked again, after he was just starting to calm down. Michael gulped and asked very slowly, "Do the Elgen know about him?" He was ticking like crazy.

"We have no idea, but we must hope they do not. If they did, they probably sending his Glows to come get him. We have an agent in his town, so we know that they do not have him. Yet. Also, we have made a dossier on his abilities, we think, and past. We do not know exactly what we can do, since he is very strange. Here." The chairman tossed a file across the room, landing in front of Michael, who gingerly opened it. At the top, it showed his name; **Aetrus Zarvis** , date of birth; unknown, possible abilities; transformation.

At this point, Ostin looked up. "Transformation? How can he do that? No electricity that I could think could allow him to transform. Do you have any theories? "

"We actually have no idea," confirmed the chairman. "He can change color, form, and even turn into a cat."

"A cat?" wondered Zeus, who has not talked that day until now, and barely mumbled it, still in shock of the discovery. "Why would he change into a cat?"

"The cat is the least of what he could do with proper training. If we can take him in to our cause, the Elgen could fall even easier."

"Not saying much," grumbled Tessa.

"Keep reading," told the chairman. Michael looked back down, and noticed the picture of Aetrus. He had blue eyes and blonde hair, with his hair combed to the right, covering his ear, and sticking up in the front like one of those arrogant "pretty-boys."

"Why does he look familiar?" asked Taylor. She squinted at Aetrus, trying to put the puzzle pieces together.

Tessa stood up and walked around so she was right behind Michael, and looked down before exclaiming, "Quentin?" Taylor nodded in agreement.

"He does sort of look like Quentin. A little like Michael too," she added. Michael was still concentrating on reading about Aetrus. 'Born in Pasadena, California, Aetrus has had the highest IQ of any child ever living. At ten, he was able to get an IQ score of 230, a figure that has surprised scientists and researchers. He is currently living in Milan, Ohio, that has a population of 1,400. He seems to be an orphan, yet goes into a house that seems to be his, even though he is only 15. In the high school that he goes to, everyone seems to be afraid, or avoids him. He has no close friends or family members, and has been noticed to go down into the sewer at sometimes. (We have not followed him down.) His powers are still growing, it seems, and are increasing ten-fold, every time he gets into an argument. He has used turning into a cat, or becoming burlier to intimidate his opposition.'

"He uses his powers on others?" Michael looked over at the chairman. Michael and Taylor had both kept their powers hidden from others, besides Ostin.

"Unfortunately, yes. This is why we conclude that the Elgen must have noticed him, if not because of his enormous IQ. We have no inside information if they do, so it is a guess, at the least. But one thing is certain. Aetrus Zarvis can be a huge benefit to the Electroclan, or a huge asset to the Elgen. We, **you** , must recruit him before it is too late. We have everything set up, if you and the Electroclan are ready for it." Michael looked around at the Electroclan, taking in everything in the room.

"We just got back from rescuing Taylor's mom and dad, and now you want to send us out again?"

"Michael, you must understand the importance of this mission. The Elgen will do anything to gain hold of Aetrus," the chairman laced his fingers.

"You're right," Michael nodded. "When do we leave?"

 _4_

Aetrus was walking home, shifting side to side, and mumbling "Ultimate" (courtesy of Denzel Curry) to himself. "HEY!" A voice echoed across the street. Aetrus looked over, and saw a man, dressed up as a soldier, or what looked to be a soldier, with a rectangular black box, and an odd-looking gun on his right thigh. Aetrus turned back around and kept walking. Nothing was going to bother this wonderful day. Just around the block, and he's home. "Kid! I'm talking to you!" the Elgen guard continually yelled.

With a sigh, Aetrus swiveled his head and asked, "What do you want?" He briefly evaluated whether or not he was in any danger. Looking over the guard, he decided that he was just a regular soldier who wanted to confront him about a crime in the area. Milan had recently hosted a fair when terrorists attacked. The casualties were large in the city, and the town was still on its toes.

"Come over here," the guard called over.

"'Stranger Danger' and all that. Sorry, but no can do." Aetrus replied. The guard frowned.

"Fine, but can you stay there?"

Aetrus pointed to the ground below him. "Right here?"

"Yeah, hold on." The guard took a phone out of his pocket and dialed a number. "Get me Admiral-General Hatch. I found our target. Aetrus was perplexed, but when there's an army guy giving orders, you should probably listen, even if he's not a threat. He knew he didn't do anything wrong, and with his powers, he's fine if someone is dumb enough to confront him. Aetrus sat down and waited for the guard to finish his call.

 _5_

The Electroclan was busy packing for the trip to Ohio. Michael and Ostin were just about done, but Taylor, Abi, Jack, Ian, Tessa, Zeus and Nichelle needed to hurry up. The flight was in an hour. "C'mon, c'mon," mumbled Zeus as he packed. Soon enough, they were all ready. The Electroclan grouped up and walked down the stairs to the meeting room.

"Guys, here's our guide for the trip," announced Ostin to the group.

"My name is Noah," the muscular, ripped man said to Ostin's right. "Hatch's head it going to be cleanly ripped off after we're done with him," Noah stuck out his jaw, which made him look like a buff superman, without the spandex and cape.

"Hmmm…" Jack said. "You know, I kinda like this guy already. Straight to the point, and down and dirty."

Of course," Michael reminded, "this is a rescue mission, we're not going on the offense. Recruit, and get out of there before the Elgen arrive." Noah frowned, clearly disappointed, but ready to do anything that might lead to heads being ripped off. "Let's head off." Michael started out the door to the jeeps.

The Electroclan made it to the private airport without any difficulty, which Taylor took to be a sign of good luck, though she didn't realize that the private airport was still on the Christmas Ranch's property, with thousands of mines all around them. Ian thought better of correcting her. Noah ushered them out across the pavement, to where a remade Delta plane sat. The door slowly slid open, and revealed a smiling Russian man, dressed as an Elgen guard. Zeus immediately shot a bolt of lightning which he was just able to dodge. "`khu i!" the man shouted, (which I will not translate, as it should not be for young readers.) "I am a friends!" he cried from behind the door. They all looked at Noah, who shrugged.

"Abram's an odd figure. Dunno why he's dressed as Elgen, but he is trustworthy." Noah told them. "ABRAM? Dude, why are you wearing an Elgen uniform? I don't wanna bring you in, man."

"Нет! It's nothing like that!" He called from the back of the plane. This is to fool the Elgen! It's safe, trust me. If they caught me, I would look like a friend." Noah shrugged, and Michael looked toward Ian.

"Well? Is there anything we should watch out for?" Michael asked.

"He's completely unarmed with anything that seems to be a RESAT, and there's no trap on the plane, beside some dynamite in the cargo hold," Ian told them. "Safe to go."

"Okay, let's move out!" Noah pumped his fist, and started forward, with Jack in pursuit and on high alert, just in case.

"Do you trust him?" Taylor looked at Michael.

"Ian said that it was safe, so we can only hope it's true. C'mon, we've got to make it before the Elgen get to Aetrus."

"Yeah," Ostin patted Michael on the back. "Let's go."

 _6_

The call had been goin on for nearly an hour, and it had involved lots of arm waving and shouting, which Aetrus found amusing. People kept avoiding him, and looking back at the guard, who immediately got really quiet again once he realized they were watching. Aetrus tried to pass the time by practicing his math, or changing his brain and trying to solve the mysteries of the universe. Didn't help that much, so he gave up and kept watching the guard. At some spots, when the guard was yelling in frustration, Aetrus was able to make out the words 'hatch', 'glows', 'resat' or 'reset' (he couldn't tell for sure) 'Admiral-General' and the oddest, 'RATS!' which in context sounded a little odd. After an hour and a half, Aetrus was just about to give up and walk away, when the guard nodded his head, and hung up. He turned back to Aetrus. "Kid, can you come over here? I need to talk to you." Aetrus shrugged, looked both ways, (SAFETY TIP! DON'T CROSS ROADS UNLESS YOU'RE SURE IT'S SAFE, UNLESS YOU'RE KYLEE!) before crossing the street to meet the Elgen guard. "Here, I need to question you about something before you go on your way. You're not in trouble or anything." Aetrus nodded in agreement. "Follow me," the guard turned and walked into the building right behind him. Aetrus quickly counted 4 floors, and a giant molecule picture, with the name 'ELGEN' scrolled across it. Aetrus frowned, realizing that he never noticed it before. He had walked this route many times, yet he hadn't seen it there.

Aetrus followed the guard into an open room, maybe about 20 feet tall, and about the size of a small gym. There was a lone couch in the middle of the room, which the guard told Aetrus he could sit in. While Aetrus made himself comfy the guard left and went into a back room, and came back a minute later with a chair. The guard told Aetrus that he would leave again, and come soon. "What should I do when I'm waiting?" asked Aetrus.

"You won't need to wait," the guard picked up his gun, and in 5 quick shots, sent Aetrus into a world of black.

 _7_

They plane trip had been going fine so far for the Electroclan, and Abram kept insisting that he talk to the group, despite the fact they couldn't understand half of what he was saying, as he kept accidently going back into Russian. Ostin had tried to see if there were any books on the Russian language, but there was nothing, and eventually he gave up, and decided to just try and learn from making sense of what Abram was saying. Turns out, Ostin was getting the hang of it. He understood about half of what Abram said, and Michael, with his disagreement, only got about an eight of what Abram said. (According to Ostin.) "Khorosho, my budem pribyvat 'v Milan, shtat Ogayo, v blizhaysheye vremya," Abram called out.

"English, please?" Zeus yelled out from the back.

"Oh yes, sorrys my friends. We will get to Milan in about 15 minutes," Abram corrected himself. Ostin reclined in his seat.

"I thought it was about arrival." He nodded to himself, and took more notes. Ostin was sitting toward the front of the plane, with McKenna next to him. Michael was beside Taylor who was leaning against him. Michael reached up and gently stroked Taylor's hair for about a minute, before wondering,

"What if the Elgen get to him first?" Taylor looked up.

"If they get to him first, we're going to have to rescue him or persuade him."

"What if that's impossible? What if they already have him, and are already heading back to Tuvalu?"

"We're going to have to fight them then," Taylor sighed. "If he's really as important as the council is getting at, we need to have him on our side. He could be really helpful."

"But are we really willing to fight for someone we don't even know?"

"We're heroes, Michael. We fight for everyone. We fight for the world."

Michael stared at Taylor. "Since when were you such a motivational speaker?"

Taylor laughed. "I've been practicing."

"We're here!" called Abram from the cockpit. The plane touched down on an airport in a crowded city.

"This isn't Milan," noticed Ostin.

"You're right of course," nodded Noah. "This is Norwalk, Ohio. About a ten minute drive from here to Milan. We need to get off and get ready." The Electroclan poured out of the plane onto the pavement of the runway. A van was parked to the side of the plane, and Noah started to go to it, and the Electroclan followed. "A bullet-proof van," Noah proudly pointed out. "This baby should take us there, and we should be able to get Aetrus and get out with roughly no issues. Let's head in."

 _8_

When Aetrus woke, he was in the same couch, but with two differences. One, he was wearing a metal vest, with the words RESAT over the front in big, white letters. Two, in the seat that the guard had previously set up, there was a tall man, dressed in a black suit and tie, with his gray hair parted to the side. The man leaned forward in his chair. "Hello, Aetrus." Aetrus cocked his head sideways, in wonder of how this man knew his name. The man smiled. "I've recently noticed you, you know. You are an amazing boy." Aetrus shuddered in his chair. Something about this man gave him the chills. "I am Dr. Hatch, and I am looking to recruit you to my cause."

"You're cause? What would that be?"

"My cause…" Hatch paused, choosing his words carefully. "My cause is to stop terrorists. As you know, recently at a fair, some terrorists attacked at this very town, causing massive damage." Aetrus nodded. Hatch continued, "Some other terrorists are going after my company, my organization, which I've worked very hard on. Our goal is to try and stop terrorist attacks around the world, by steeping up, and controlling the seven continents." Aetrus frowned. (He was doing a lot of that today.)

"You…want to take over the world? Doesn't sound like that's the best choice. The governments will try and stop you, and even if you can take control, it doesn't mean the countries will listen to you."

"Of course not, but I will rule by fear."

Aetrus shook his head. "Sounds horrible. Why are you telling me this?"

"Because, my dear boy, you could help me. You must have realized that you are different from others.

"Yes," Aetrus mumbled quietly, then said louder, "How did you know?"

"First off, you have an IQ of 230. Not normal. Second, you're IQ changes, but instead of going up, like normal, it proceeds to go up and down, and is currently in the 160s." Hatch paused and looked back at Aetrus, before continuing. "This is most likely because you are an electric child. This means that you are born with more electricity than normal, allowing you to do amazing things. We have reports of you changing your size, color and even turn into a cat."

"What are you, stalkers?" Aetrus grumbled. "Why do you guys care?"

"You could be very helpful to us, Aetrus Zarvis. With your help, the world will fall easier and we will be able to wipe out the terrorists." Aetrus looked over Hatch again, evaluating him.

"You're lying," Aetrus stated. Hatch blanched. "You want to take over the world, but not because you want to stop terrorists."

"You can read minds?" questioned Hatch, taking notes.

"No, I'm just good at knowing when someone is trying to trick me. Why are you actually doing this?"

Hatch smirked, "For power, of course. When the world falls to me, falls to us, we can do anything we want, whenever we want."

"That's crazy," Aetrus stated. "Rebellions will always occur."

"I have a plan for everything, Aetrus. Once we're on top of the world, and stopped the terrorists who are going after my company, we will rule by fear and no one will ever think to try and cross us." Hatch's face darkened. "This is top secret information, remember. If you tell anyone…" Hatch made a line with his finger over his neck, which made a very clear point.

"Before I even consider joining the Elgen…" Aetrus read Hatch's suit and name tag, "Who **are** these terrorists that you want to stop?"

"They are electric children like you, we call them Glows. They are like you, but they have different abilities. They do not agree with my company's choices, and they are fighting to stop me. They are led by the infamous Michael Vey."

. "Hey, I think I've heard of them. Didn't they blow up a plant in Peru?"

"Exactly. That was one of mine. Also, they destroyed one in Taiwan, and they will not stop until my company has been completely destroyed. We must stop them before they recreate what happened in your town.

"What made them turn against you?"

"My…methods," Hatch said slowly.

"Your methods?"

"Yes, I persuaded them to do things that seemed bad to them, and the leader, Michael Vey, lied to them and poured false information into their brains." Aetrus thought this over. Hatch seemed creepy and untrustworthy, but the way Michael Vey was sounding…

"Isn't this like, classified information? There seems to be no security or anything. You **know** that I have powers, so why aren't you being more careful if I don't agree?"

"One thing, there's about 60 guards surrounding this building, all armed with the dart guns that put you out of commission. Second, about you, do you notice that you're wearing a RESAT?"

Aetrus looked back down at the vest, then back at Hatch, "So? What does that mean?" Hatch smiled, and turned a dial on a little black pad he had in his lap. Pain immediately burst through Aetrus. It wasn't like any pain he experienced before. It wasn't on the outside, it felt deep in his bones, straight in his cell. He gasped for air.

"You see?" Hatch waved the pad in front of his face. As long as you're wearing that, I can control how much electricity goes through your body, and you can die from losing to much electricity. Aetrus gritted his teeth. "I see it so that you have no choice but to agree with my terms, and join me, or die in pain." Hatch turned another dial, and the pain receded.

"All right," Aetrus agreed, though one part of him told him he was making a horrible decision. "What next?"

 _9_

The ten-minute ride had been suspenseful. By now everyone was sure that the Elgen would find Aetrus, and it was just a race to get to him first. Michael was ticking like crazy, his eyes blinking at least 40 times a minute, and Ostin kept rattling random facts off to keep himself calmer. "Not helping," Zeus turned back to Ostin. "It's just making it even worse."

"Sorry," Ostin mumbled. "It's like Tourette's for smart people."

"Shhh…" Ian told them. "I'm looking to see if I can find him."

"We're still about a minute away from the destination," Noah called over his shoulder. "But it's not exact; you should keep looking for-"

"Wait!" Ian interrupted. "There's a building to the right on W Merry Street that says 'Elgen' and there's about 60 guards around the perimeter. Park here, we can't afford to get closer." Noah veered the car to the side of the road and pulled to a stop.

"Ian, can you see if there's anyone in the building?" Ian stared into a brick wall, which would be a little odd if you were a bystander.

"Yes…OH!" he suddenly exclaimed.

"What?" Jack asked.

"It's Hatch!" The tension in the car just rose ten-fold.

"What is he doing?" Michael turned to Ian.

"He's talking to a boy…but there is no glow…" Ian exhaled. "I don't think that's Aetrus."

"You sure?"

"I think…Oh, no." Ian suddenly looked very nervous.

"What is it?" Taylor was on the brink of collapse right about now.

"He's wearing a RESAT…And he looks exactly like in the picture…" Ian turned to the group. "He beat us to him." Tessa blanched.

"We have to get him away from Hatch," Noah plainly pointed out.

"Ostin, how can we do this?" Michael turned to his best friend.

"Well, since there are about 60 guards covering the building, this must not be a diversion. I don't even think they know we are here. But, with all the protection around Hatch, we can't afford to risk our lives going straight into the building. Knowing Hatch, he's not going to leave Aetrus here, so he's going to have to move him."

"So we should intercept him, just like Jade Dragon," Michael noted.

"Yes, but it should be easier. Of course, we need to think of a plan, not just run in."

"You're Einstein," snorted Zeus. "You should figure it out."

"I am, hold on. Ian, can you give me a play-by-play?"

"Sure. Hatch and Aetrus are shaking hands…Hatch is standing up and walking over to Aetrus, and is taking off the RESAT…WOAH, that's bright."

"His glow?" wondered Taylor.

"Yeah, it's like the light is coming from each of his cells and the air around him. It's crazy bright. It's like McKenna. No wonder Hatch isn't wearing his glasses."

"Keep telling me what's going on," reminded Ostin.

"Right. Hatch and Aetrus are standing up, and talking, looks like they're about to leave. Hatch is talking in a walkie-talkie or something, and…" Ian paused, looking around, "5 guards are heading down the back stairs, and 5 are coming down the front."

"Only 10?" Ostin asked.

"Only 10," Ian confirmed.

"What are the other guards doing?"

"It looks like they're packing up…some vans pulled up in the back, and they're all moving toward it. There's another van, looks bulletproof, coming up our street over there." Ian pointed down the road.

"That's the van that's going to be picking them up," Ostin said. "We need to go after that one. They don't know that we are here, so we need to use it to our advantage. Here's the plan."

 _10_

After Hatch took off the RESAT, Aetrus realized how much more free he felt. He didn't even notice the difference until it was taken off. Aetrus stretched, and waited as Hatch took out a walkie-talkie and confirmed they were moving out. Nothing was here, so the extra guards could leave, we just needed 10. Aetrus shifted side to side impatiently, until Hatch told him, "Let's go." 5 guards came from behind Aetrus, and 5 guards came from the front, making a protective ring around Hatch and him. Hatch walked out the front door, and Aetrus was hit with light, momentarily blinding him. It took him a split-second before he realized it wasn't from the sun. In front of them was a giant pillar of light which grew increasingly brighter and brighter, until he closed his eyes before they could get damaged.

"C'mon!" A new voice echoed through Aetrus' ears. Aetrus thought it was Hatch, and then realized that Hatch was knocked on the ground. The guards simultaneously reached for their guns and shot randomly into the light before they heard an 'Uhh…' and a girl collapsed, light fading from her body. At the same time, a searing pain made Aetrus grab his head. It was the same pain as wearing the RESAT, but there was nothing on him. "Good job, Nichelle!" The same voice called. Around him guards screamed into walky-talkies and Hatch grabbed Aetrus' arm and yelled in his ear, so Aetrus could hear him over the pain.

"We need to get out of here! It's the terrorists!"

"I thought we were going to fight them!"

"You're not ready!" Aetrus turned to look at Hatch like he was crazy, despite the pain.

"Are you kidding?" Aetrus asked. "Do you even know me?" Ignoring the searing pain, Aetrus got to his feet and raised his hand in the air, palm wide open. Above his head, wind swirled around above his palm, turning lighter and stretching, making the shape of a 2 foot log above his head. Aetrus concentrated more, and the bright light concentrated, forming into a 2 foot long titanium sword, with dropped into his open hand. "Let's go," Aetrus smiled, readying the sword.

 _11_

The plan was going perfectly. McKenna had blinded the guards, allowing everyone to surround them, and bringing Nichelle into the range where she could do the most damage. Unfortunately, the guards were able to shoot her before she could do the most, but that was fine for now. Zeus was able to take down a guard, and with Michael being enhanced by Tessa, was able to create electric balls the size of a beach ball, and chuck them at the guards causing mass confusion and third-degree burns. With the guards running around, Zeus couldn't get a clear shot, but that was fine since Michael was causing mass destruction. Taylor was also rebooting some of the guards, who momentarily froze in place, before realizing where they were and running away again. Zeus was able to get some shots off after they got rebooted. Jack and Noah were rampaging the guards, but one of the one's in the front must have contacted the other guards, as some came running into the battlefield from the inside of the building. "Ian, are they sending back-up?" Ostin asked.

"Yes, they sent 10 more, and others are getting RPGs from the back of the cars," Ian turned to Ostin. "We need to get Aetrus quick." Ostin frowned and turned back to the battle. He kept an eye on Hatch, who held Aetrus' arm and yelled something to him. Aetrus turned back to Hatch, said something else, and stood up besides Nichelle.

"Nichelle! We need you to do more!" Michael called, even before Ostin could open his mouth. Nichelle nodded, and started to close her eyes to concentrate. Suddenly, she let out a gasp and buckled in pain. Ostin and Ian ran over to her.

"What is it?" Ostin asked.

"It was like with Michael…" she looked worried. "There was so much power…" Nichelle gasped and pointed at Aetrus. Ostin followed her gaze and his jaw dropped as a sword appeared out of nowhere and dropped into Aetrus' hand.

"Wasn't his power teleportation?" Ian looked really worried.

"Yes!" Ostin yelled. "I the council must have made a mistake with the file. We need to focus everything on Aetrus. He's going to have more in store."

Ian nodded, before calling out, "Focus everything on Aetrus! Ignore the guards for now! Michael, continue to throw the balls into the crowd, and Taylor, make sure you reboot Aetrus over and over again. Zeus, electrocute Aetrus!" Everyone nodded and changed direction. Aetrus looked confused for a second, and almost dropped his sword. He regained his composure then promptly got thrown back by a bolt from Zeus' lightning. He slammed into the wall, and staggered. Again, he looked confused. Ostin turned back to Nichelle.

"He's not going down easy; can you try and suck out his electricity now, and maybe knock him out?"

"Possibly," Nichelle rose to her feet and concentrated on Aetrus. Aetrus grabbed his head, let the sword fall, and collapsed next to it.

"Yes!" Ian called. "Jack and Noah get Aetrus and get out! Everyone, retreat!"

"What about Hatch?" called Zeus. Hatch was on the ground next to the wall. He seemed unconscious.

"Leave him!" called Ian. "We need to run! They have RPGs!" On cue, Elgen guards armed with the heavy guns ran out of the building. Noah, with Aetrus draped over his shoulder with Jack trailing him, ran past Ostin to the car. Nichelle, Zeus, Michael, Tessa and Taylor all started to head back to the van before Ostin realized.

"McKenna!" He called out. He had completely forgotten. McKenna was left unconscious in the middle of the battle field, with 7 darts sticking out of her side and back.

"We don't have time!" Ian warned. The RPGs were all but ready to fire. "We have to get her later!"

"We can't leave her!" Ostin sobbed. How could he have forgotten about her? "Hatch will kill her!"

"No, they need her for information!" yelled Ian, pulling Ostin's collar. We **need** to get out! We'll rescue her later!" Ostin screamed, but the world suddenly became dark as a rocket hit the ground in front of him.

 _12_

Ian was blasted off his feet by the rocket, and sent sprawling onto the ground, rolling toward the car. He scrambled to his feet, grabbed Ostin by the leg, and lugged him to the van. He heaved Ostin into the car and yelled to Jack, "GO! We're in!" Jack slammed on the accelerator, and the van screeched and took off down the road.

"Back to the airport," Noah reminded Jack. "We need to get there before the Elgen find us." Aetrus was tucked in the back seat, strapped in, his head rolled to the side.

"Where's McKenna?" asked Taylor, turning her head to Ian, who was sitting in the back seat next to the unconscious Ostin and Aetrus.

"We…needed to leave her behind," Ian stammered. Taylor gasped. Ian quickly explained, "We forgot that she was hit by the darts, and when we were focused on getting away from the RPGs, we didn't remember until they were firing on us."

Taylor shook her head in despair. "McKenna…" she turned and looked out the window, at the passing landscape. Michael put an arm around her to comfort her.

"We'll find her, and rescue her. Taylor, we won't stop until we get her back. Anyways, Ostin wouldn't let us," Michael looked to the back of the car, and sized up Aetrus. "So he's the guy we've been fighting for." Ian nodded, still looking miserable. "At least we got him."

Aetrus chose this time to suddenly let out a groan. "Nichelle! Get ready!" Zeus warned. Aetrus awoke and immediately got blasted by pain. He grabbed his head and leaned forward.

"Easy, Nichelle," Michael told her. The pain lessened. Aetrus looked up and gasped.

"Terrorists!" He started to panic, and Nichelle put her hand out, leaving Aetrus in pain again. "What do you want from me?" He managed.

"We're not bad guys," Michael told him. "Hatch is full of lies. The Elgen are here to take over the world, and will kill anyone who tries to stop him. Everyone in the Electroclan hates him. Hatch even turned against his own electric children after they rescued someone. Aetrus was silent.

"Hatch told me that you guys were destroying plants that were helping the world create energy, and were attacking Peru and their army. How is that not bad?" Aetrus looked up

"We only attacked the plants because they were the Elgen's, and they held someone that we cared for in them. Also, the army attacked us first. Listen, the plants that the Elgen made are powering a vast amount of countries' energy. They have no choice but to help him if we try and take them down. Hatch wants to create an army of electric children, or Glows, as he likes to call them. Using them to his advantage, he'll take over the world. Think about it, Aetrus. You're supposed to be smart." Aetrus stared out the window.

"I suppose…Everything happened so quickly…" He turned back to Michael. "You're Vey, right?"

"Yes."

"You can shock people through contact and conduction, right?" He turned to Zeus, "You can 'throw' electricity from your body…" he swiveled to Tessa, "and you can enhance electricity."

"How did you know all that?" Michael suspiciously asked.

"I'm smart," Aetrus shrugged. "How did you guys know about me?"

"We have a record," called Noah from the front seat.

"A record?" Aetrus sounded impressed. "You guys were keeping tabs on me?"

"Yeah, here you go," Michael reached into the side pocket of the van and pulled out the dossier. He tossed it Aetrus. "Check it out. How'd you make that sword though?" Aetrus wasn't listening to the question, and was more focused on reading what they wrote about him. When he got to a part, he snickered.

"What?" Ian asked.

"You guys thought my electrical powers were to transform? That's so wrong," He shook his head. "That's the least of what I can do. If you guys noticed me earlier, you would have seen that."

"What happened earlier?" Michael wondered.

"You're Vey, right?" Aetrus repeated.

" **Yes.** I answered that already."

"Nothing happened," he shrugged. Michael raised his eyebrow.

"Really? I'm going to have to ask Taylor to read your mind." Aetrus glanced at Taylor, who continued to look out the window.

"Okay," he agreed. "She could do it now, if she wants."

"Taylor?" Taylor spun around and nodded.

"Here we go," she said, as she placed her hand on Aetrus' arm. Aetrus closed his eyes simultaneously. They sat for about a minute, both with their eyes closed, when suddenly Taylor opened them. "Who's Charlotte?" she asked. Aetrus mentally cursed himself.

"Nobody you should care about," he plainly stated. "She's an old friend."

"Really?" Taylor smirked. "I wasn't done reading your mind yet." She place her hand back on Aetrus' arm, but this time Aetrus' eyes didn't close. He just stared at Michael. About 30 seconds passed when Taylor suddenly gasped. Aetrus smiled.

"You see?"

"What happened?" Michael asked them.

"No way…" Taylor mumbled. She stared back at Aetrus, who smirked at her realization. "A 19th?"

 _13_

Jack almost lost control of the steering wheel. "A 19th?!" Jacked yelled, scrambling to keep the van on the road. "It was enough with 18!" Taylor looked at Aetrus, as if trying to read his mind without touching him.

"You knew her…but I can't figure out why…what **is** your electrical ability?" Taylor asked.

Ostin suddenly flew awake and screamed, "MCKENNA!" and Michael jumped, and hit his head on the roof of the van. Ostin looked around, just realizing he was in the van. "Oh, sorry."

"Jeez, man," grumbled Michael. "That hurt." He rubbed his head. Taylor laughed, and then focused back on Aetrus.

"So, what _is_ your electrical power?"

"Let's see if you can figure it out."

Ostin turned to Aetrus. "Well, I see you're on our side, so that's good at least…" he sighed. "But we lost McKenna…" He looked down in despair. Ian put a hand on his should for support. Ostin pushed past the pain of loss for a moment, and started to calculate how Aetrus was able to change and make the sword. "You can transform apparently…" he looked over at Aetrus. "Then you can make a sword…change your IQ…" He shook his head in confusion. "What **is** your ability?" Aetrus smiled, clearly pleased with the mystery of his power.

"Well, my power is more based on my imagination," Aetrus tapped his head for emphasis. "I can send electric signals to my cells, and they do what I tell them to do, in record time. So, for example, I can regenerate, or, as you guys have noticed, transform."

"Impossible!" Ostin exclaimed. "Your cells won't have enough time to respond! Your power is too fluent!"

"I can push the cells to complete tasks in record time. Trust me. After all, I am the smarter of the two of us," Aetrus taunted. Ostin scrunched in his eyebrows at the insult.

"Still…" he started, but was interrupted by Taylor.

"You know, we still have the 19th Glow to talk about," she reminded.

"A 19th?" Ostin turned around and looked at her. "This is crazy!" He looked back at Aetrus. "Do you know her?"

"Yes," Aetrus said flatly. "But it's too late to recruit her."

"Why is that?" Michael asked, after silently waiting for a while.

"Umm…" Aetrus nervously drummed his fingers on the side of the car. "Well…I might have told Hatch where to find her."

"You're kidding," Michael held his head in his hands. "You told Hatch? When?"

"When he was asking questions. I told him about her."

"You were friends?" Ostin questioned. Aetrus blushed.

"It's a little more…complicated," Aetrus picked the words very carefully. Taylor smiled.

"Well, what can you tell us about your girlfriend?" she playfully taunted.

"First of all, she's not my girlfriend. I told you, it's more complicated than that. Second, she is the human copy-cat," Aetrus grumbled. Ostin raised his eyebrows.

"How's that?" he asked.

"Still haven't figured it out yet," Aetrus looked ashamed at those words. "It must have something to do with electricity in her brain, making her and electrical savant of some sort. That's the most I have."

"So…" Ian thought about it. "She could copy Michael's electric balls or Zeus' lightning?"

"Yes."

"But she can only use one power at a time, right?" Jack asked from the front seat.

"Wrong," Aetrus said glumly. "She can use multiple powers at once. For example, she could look through walls using Ian's power, and shoot lightning at the people at the same time." Ostin shook his head in wonder.

"So if Hatch is recruiting her, what chance do we have? She can copy all of your guys' powers, and use them against you. It's like running up an endless staircase."

"Wrong again," Aetrus stated. "Remember, my power is based off of imagination. Even though she will have the ability to do everything I can do, she might not realize she can do things, or figure out how to do them, in time. I might be able to take her down, despite what the past suggests."

"What happened?" Taylor wondered. "Also, why couldn't I see your memories of her?"

"First question first. At first, I got creamed by her. She absorbed my power, and utterly destroyed me. The thing is, she perfects your ability right when she copies it. So, when I first started to learn, I was really bad with my power and couldn't do anything very well. But, as time went on and I got more comfortable, I was able to become closer and closer to her level," Aetrus took a deep breath. "Therefore, I think I should be able to beat her or provide enough time to persuade her. Unfortunately, she copies everything, not just electricity. So, she can move extraordinarily fast, faster than your eyes could see," Aetrus pointed around at everyone, besides Ian. "Ian should be able to watch her, since he doesn't actually see _._ " Michael let out a deep breath.

"So, pretty much we're screwed," Nichelle had finally talked, after listening patiently. "The only thing else that I could think of is letting me take a shot at her, and suck out her powers."

Aetrus shook his head, pushing aside the idea. "Remember, she absorbs and perfects powers. After she meets Michael, she can figure out what Ostin realized, and pulse about a million volts, and even with you only sucking out a little bit of electricity, you're still dead."

"Oh," Nichelle said in a small voice.  
"Hold on a second…" Michael frowned and faced Ostin. "How did he know about your idea?" The Electroclan all turned on Aetrus, who was suddenly looking very nervous. Aetrus' eyes darted around the van.

"Well…" he started, "I have my sources."

"Which are?" Michael pushed on.

"Umm…" Aetrus looked out the window. "Somebody. I don't know his name. I just call him the voice."

 _14_

Taylor raised her eyebrows. "You work for the voice?" Aetrus pouted.

"I work _with_ the voice. 'For' sounds like I'm a slave or something," He stated. "Besides, how do you know about him?"

"Like you said, we work _with_ him," Tessa put emphasis on 'with'. "We were sent to rescue Jade Dra-" Zeus clamped his hand over her mouth, and whispered something in her ear. Tessa frowned. "Ah, right. We got sent by the voice to rescue someone. Also, he has helped us multiple times, in blowing up the plants. And finding you," she added. Aetrus nodded.

Michael spoke up again. "So, you said you told Hatch Charlotte. Where is she?"

"Well, from the last time I saw her, she was in Bloomingville. Just 9 miles away, actually."

"Do you think we have time to get to her?"

"Maybe…If they didn't find her yet. But that's cutting it close."

After Aetrus spoke, Michael asked the whole van, "Should we try and get to her first?" The Electroclan looked around at each other for a while. Ian finally nodded.

"I think we should give it a shot. The worse that could happen is we lose her," he told them.

"Yes, but we might need to confront the Elgen again," Zeus put in. "And they'll be more prepared for us."

"Don't worry about the Elgen," Aetrus said. "I can take them down easily. It's only if Charlotte decides to join them we have a problem."

"Okay," Ostin told Jack. "Let's turn around and go to Bloomingville."

"Hold up," Aetrus said to them. "I wanna try something. Everyone out of the car," the Electroclan looked at him like he was crazy. "Relax, people. I'm just gonna change it, make the van better." With a shrug, Michael started out the van, followed by everyone else. Aetrus was the last, and turned around to face the bullet-proof van. He stared at it for a second, before asking, "Tessa, can you boost me?"

"Sure," She walked over and put a hand on his should. Aetrus concentrated, and the whole van collapsed on itself in a bright light. The light expanded and grew, practically blinding everyone. "Gah!" Tessa yelled, turning away. The light slowly started to fade, and instead of the white van, there was a limo-Lamborghini.

"Long but fast," Aetrus explained proudly. "Can hit about 300mph. should be comfortable," Jack whistled in approval.

"Wow," Noah nodded his head in respect. He walked around the car, examining it. He smiled and turned back to the Electroclan "Okay everyone, let's hit it!" They piled back in to the van, which Jack swung around and started north-west. Aetrus sat silently, thinking about what would happen if she was already with the Elgen. He shuddered, and mentally prepared for the encounter. The whole van was quiet, each of the Electroclan thinking of this crazy day. Ostin was mentally calculating force and trajectory of the apple that fellow on Newton's head, and Michael was having a silent conversation with Taylor (literally). It involved a lot of looking over at Aetrus, which made him uneasy. Eventually, about 5 minutes in the ride, Aetrus disappeared.

"Woah!" Ostin exclaimed. "Where'd he go?"

"Chill, man," a voice came from above his head. "I'm right here. I turned into a fly. Listen, I'll see you guys there. Later."

"Wait!" Ostin called. "We don't know any actually location!" But Aetrus was already gone.

 _15_

Charlotte was walking around, turning her hand into a mini elephant, then into a sword. She swiped it through the lamppost, and it cut through like butter. Charlotte turned her hand back into a, well, hand, and ignored the loud _THUMP_ of the lamppost as it clattered against the pavement. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man with a gun, pointing it at her, yelling something into his microphone. He looked up, and noticed she was looking at him. Faster than he could react, she ran across the street, and jabbed her finger into his neck, and he promptly collapsed without a sound. Suddenly, the street was swarmed with guards. Charlotte got ready for a fight, but instead of the Elgen men attacking, they waited, and a tall man stepped forward. "Hello, Charlotte," Hatch said. Charlotte stood silently, evaluating for any threat.

She laughed, and then stood straight. "If you came to attack me, Hatch, you need to bring more than this," Hatch blanched, not expecting Charlotte to know his name. "How do I know you?" she teased, "I've been watching you and your company. You almost had Aetrus, but you have a better deal here," Hatch cocked his head sideways in confusion. "I saw that, Dr. James Hatch. I am much more powerful than that suck-up doofus, Aetrus. I'm in," she stepped forward, offering her hand for a shake. Hatch took it, still shocked in her amount of knowledge. Out of nowhere a knife sliced through the air, directly at Charlotte's hand. She jerked away just in time before her hand got cut off, and even though with her impossible speed, she still got caught in the hand. Blood poured down the side of her hand, and she glared in the direction of the knife. "Aetrus," she growled as her ex-boyfriend stepped through the doorway to meet her.

"Long time no see," he nodded to her. "Hello, Hatch." Hatch squinted in disbelief. Being surprised is something that had barely happened before, and yet it happened twice so far today.

"Aetrus," Charlotte put her hands on her hips. "What are you doing here?"

"Isn't it obvious? I'm here to come back and join."

"You switched to the _terrorists,_ Aetrus."

"No, that's what they think. C'mon, you should copy my intelligence," Aetrus told her. "I joined them to get behind lines and think that I'm with them. In fact, I sent them this way. Little do they know, we have…" Aetrus paused, counting the guards, "50 guards, two overpowered Glows, and the leader of Elgen," he smirked. "Easy calculation," Hatch grinned, which was very un-Hatch-like.

"Yes!" Hatch exclaimed. "This is perfect. You have lead them right to us, Aetrus. We have no reason to be worried," Hatch cackled with glee.

"Ohhhkkaayyy…" Aetrus backed away from Hatch slowly. "So, Char, you have joined us?"

Charlotte rolled her eyes at the nickname. "Yes, Aetrus. But you should know I'm getting the most action. I want to get **all** their powers."

"Yes, yes, and I'm sure you will. You of course, have no adversary," Aetrus played along. "But right now, I say we listen to what Hatch has to say about his new team."

"Well," Hatch started. "I am very pleased with the recruitment of Aetrus Zarvis and Charlotte Kamen. We welcome you to the Elgen. Of course, joining the Elgen isn't just saying 'I'm in', and you're in. You have to prove your worth, and show us your ruthlessness in doing a deed. Aetrus has already completed his part, better than I would have hoped. Charlotte, your test is to kill Michael Vey. The lead terrorist. He _must_ die for you to be in the Elgen," Hatch turned to her. "Are you ready?" Charlotte smiled.

"Consider it done."

 _16_

Ostin was still looking for where Aetrus had gone, when Ian noticed something. "On the left, on West Mason Road. There's a bright light and a bunch of armed people standing around."

"Bingo," Zeus said. "Jack, take us there."

"Hmm…" Ian thought. "There are two lights, one must be Aetrus. A man is stepping forward to a light, and talking. Probably Charlotte. Talking, talking…They're going to shake hands…" Ian turned back to Jack, "We have to hurry!"

"I'm going as fast as I can!" Jack called.

"They shook hands," Ian told them in despair. "Aetrus threw a knife and it hit the girl's hand, but she kind of got out of the way. Hold on," Ian noticed something. "Aetrus, I think, is talking to Hatch and Charlotte, but he's not attacking."

"Buying his time, if I had to say," Ostin nodded in approval. "That's a good idea. Waiting for us. Ian, how much time would you say till we get to them?"

Ian looked around the street. "Maybe, a minute?" Ostin nodded and waited. "Uh oh…" Ian said, after 30 seconds. "The glow is think is Charlotte, is looking in our direction…"

Ostin looked at Ian. "Do you think it's possible she could copy your power from this distance?"

Ian shook his head. "I don't know. But if I had to guess, I'd say she did. She's watching our car while it's moving." Ostin exhaled.

"That's bad," he obviously stated.

"No duh, man!" Jack exclaimed. "We just lost the little element of surprise we had! If she actually is with Hatch, we might be screwed.

"Aetrus did say that he could probably beat her," reminded Ostin. "But just to be safe, **no one** use their powers until they have to. Once you use it, she'll probably acquire it," the Electroclan nodded in agreement. No one wanted to help the Elgen. They sat silently for another 30 seconds, Michael running his hand through Taylor's hand, his arm wrapped around her. Noah was cracking his knuckles loudly, Ian kept a lookout, and Ostin was formulating back-up plans for his back-up plans. "We're here," Ostin looked out the window at the Elgen guards lined up. "Where are Aetrus and Charlotte?" Ostin turned to Ian.

"In the back…but they're moving forward. Together?" Ian looked around in surprise, and then looked back at the scene again. He paled. "We've been betrayed."

 _17_

Aetrus was nervous. He knew the Electroclan didn't stand a chance, and with Ian looking at the scene, they should notice and turn around. He didn't want anyone to die today. Unfortunately, he had already led them here, so there was no point turning back. Aetrus looked back at Charlotte, calmly walking to his left through the guards as they parted to make a path. Hatch was in the front, ready to boast to the Electroclan about their utter demise. Aetrus glanced around, still evaluating his plan. He was behind lines with no suspiciousness, but this still could fail. And if Charlotte copies their powers, then there could be trouble. Charlotte was looking around, using her newfound power to scan the area in front of them. "I see Michael," she said in a sing-song voice. "After this is done, we can see what Dr. Hatch as in store for us!" Charlotte turned to Aetrus. "Isn't this great?"

"It sure is," Aetrus smiled with feigned enthusiasm. "This will be over in no time," Charlotte grinned and took Aetrus' hand. He hoped he wasn't blushing.

"Oh please, after all we've been through; you get embarrassed when I hold your hand?" Charlotte asked him. Aetrus was blushing. "Ahh, c'mon," she told him. "Let's see how powerful you got," Charlotte poked his arm. They slowly made their way through the line of guards, Hatch still leading them, ready for the Electroclan to get destroyed. In his right hand, as discreetly as possible, Aetrus formed a 12-inch knife. Luckily, Charlotte wasn't looking over when he made it, or she could've copied it. He didn't want that. Soon they were out of the crowd, and facing the Electroclan's car. Slowly, the door opened, and the Electroclan gradually stepped out, Michael in the front. Aetrus looked at his girlfriend, who was smiling broadly, eyes focused on Michael.

"Electroclan!" boomed Hatch. "You have come late, to see that the 18th **and** 19th glows are on my side!" Taylor glared at Aetrus, and Ostin made a fist, as if that was going to do anything. "The 18th, Aetrus has led you here, letting us watch your demise. Before all of you beg for mercy, as if I'm going to let you live, you get to see the death of your leader, Michael Vey," he gestured to Charlotte, who stepped forward, with her arm turning into a sword. Aetrus wisely let go of her hand, and moved back beside Hatch. As Charlotte started to brag about how obsolete they were, Aetrus carefully made a thin line of electric atoms, straight to Taylor, small enough so that it was invisible to the naked eye. Taylor was focused on Charlotte anyway, so she didn't notice it until Aetrus made it hit her, making it feel like a static shock. She flinched, and then turned around to see who did it.

 _'Taylor'_ Aetrus concentrated. Taylor spun around, and then focused on him.

 _'What do you want?'_ she glared, but her eyes told Aetrus she was rather surprised that he could talk to her.

' _I haven't turned on you guys,'_ he told her.

Taylor raised an eyebrow. ' _Oh really? Then why are you with the enemy, holding hands?_ _ **Leading**_ _us to our 'deaths' as Hatch said.'_

Aetrus sighed. ' _It's exactly what Nichelle did. If you don't trust me, then watch and wait. Here's my idea,'_ Aetrus told Taylor his plan.Suddenly, a scream pierced through Aetrus' ears, he spun back, and realized he was too late. Charlotte, in snake form, was sinking her fangs into Michael's arm, a look of shock on his face. He crumpled as Charlotte turned back into human form and stepped away from him. Aetrus put on a fake smile, and walked forward to meet his girlfriend. "Good job," he grinned, and leaned forward and kissed her on the lips. He heard a gasp from Taylor, or Nichelle, but he wasn't focused on that. He had a job to do. While they were still embraced, Aetrus slowly reached his right hand forward, knife still firmly in his grasp. He jabbed forward, and leaned back when he heard metal slide into flesh. He retreated, knife sticking out of Charlotte's abdomen, only hilt showing through her shirt. She coughed, blood spurting out of her mouth.

"How could you?" she gasped, and collapsed to the ground. Aetrus turned to Michael, still withering in pain on the ground. He walked slowly to him, and placed a hand on his chest, despite the yells from Taylor and Jack. The rest of the Electroclan was still frozen in surprise. Aetrus concentrated on where the poison was, and willed it to dissipate. Immediately, the poison disappeared, and turned into electricity that crackled through Michael's body, jolting him awake. He gasped for air, as new energy burst through his body. Michael sat up, and looked around. Aetrus, satisfied, turned around and faced the dumbfounded Elgen. Charlotte was still rolling on the ground, blood still coming out of her stomach. Aetrus studied her for a minute. With a sigh, he waved his hand, and the knife shot out of her abdomen, and folded in on itself. Charlotte was breathing heavily, and Aetrus walked over to her, and put a hand on her head, like he did with Michael. He concentrated, and the wound healed almost immediately, and Charlotte regained consciousness. Taylor had run over to Michael and was hugging him, almost so he couldn't breathe. Michael held on, still recovering from the cobra poison.

Aetrus sat down next to Charlotte, still on the ground. "I couldn't watch you die, and I definitely couldn't be your killer," he told her. Charlotte looked at him, surprise in her eyes.

She slowly stumbled to her feet, Aetrus helping her. Suddenly, faster than Ian could see, Charlotte's hand turned into a sword and swung at Aetrus' face, which caught it easily. "How could you?" Charlotte repeated.

"It was the right thing to do. Come on, Charlotte, use your brain. The Elgen are crazy, and power hungry. Think about it," Aetrus answered. "What do you think the Doctor would want?"

Charlotte blanched. "Well – um, I…" she couldn't find the words.

"Can someone please explain to me what is going on?" yelled Tessa. "She just killed Michael; Aetrus stabs her, and then helps both of them. To add on to that, who the heck is the 'Doctor'? What is going **on**?" Michael stood up, and electricity crackled around him, flashing in different directions. His Lichtenburg figures lit up, sparking electricity from Aetrus' boost. He looked around himself in wonder. Michael turned back to Aetrus.

"What did you do to me?" he asked.

"Why, I just helped you," Aetrus answered. "I turned the poison into electricity, so it gave you a power-up, so to speak."

"You what?" Charlotte turned on him. "I thought we were gonna kill him."

"No, no," Aetrus waved her off. "We were, but that changed. We're friends now."

"Huh," Charlotte looked over at Michael, and then walked over. Michael took a step back, but Charlotte didn't seem to care. She kept walking over, and took his hand and shook it, saying, "Nice to meet you." Aetrus looked over at Taylor, and nodded his head.

' _Thank you,'_ he thought.

Taylor smiled, glad the plan worked out. ' _You're welcome.'_ Aetrus had told her his plan. He would have hope Michael wouldn't get hurt, but that was just a minor setback. While he was healing Charlotte, Taylor had rebooted her many times, really fast, erasing her memory and intentions of killing Michael, so Aetrus could persuade her that they were all friends.

Michael regained his composure after shaking hands with Charlotte, and turned to Hatch, who was frozen in place. "You lost, Hatch. Your game is over. Surrender now and it might not hurt as much."

Hatch, looking so smug a minute ago, was now pale. "You…you…" he pointed a hand toward Aetrus. "You…betrayed me?"

"You bet, Hatch," Aetrus grinned. "The old double-agent got you good." He walked back to Charlotte and put a hand on her shoulder. "Now you have two new glows, but they're _against_ you."

"Hey, Aetrus," Charlotte turned to him, smiling. Suddenly, a sword jutted out the back of his shirt. Charlotte took her hand out, and looked down at him. "The double-agent got you good."

 _18_

Charlotte turned away from Aetrus, who was crumpled on the ground, and walked back to Hatch, who, as the day went on, got more and more confused. Aetrus rolled over in pain, and the Electroclan ran over to him, keeping their eyes firmly planted on Charlotte. Jack bent down and looked at the wound, before calling Nichelle over. "Can you do stiches on him?" He asked.

Nichelle shook her head. "Wouldn't help. That cut is too severe. He's dead," she glumly pointed out. Taylor looked over at Aetrus, before shaking her head.

"No, he's not dead."

"What?" Nichelle leaned back in surprise. "That was straight through the heart…"

"He healed Michael from dying, and Charlotte too. He'll be up even faster," she told them. As if on cue, Aetrus groaned and sat up, the cut slowly disappearing. Taylor looked back at Nichelle and grinned. Nichelle rolled her eyes.

"Ouch," Aetrus mumbled. He slowly stood up, and faced Charlotte. "Guess that didn't work," he looked at Taylor who shrugged.

"Please Aetrus," Charlotte called. "You said to copy your intelligence. After I gained it, I realized that it wasn't your plan to betray them, it was **us.** After that, I made some good inferences and your idea was pretty clear to me," Aetrus rolled his eyes.

"Of course it was."

Suddenly, their conversation was interrupted by a load _zap_ that echoed through Aetrus' ears. Charlotte just watched the bolt of lightning that Zeus had sent. As it hit her, it sunk into her body and disappeared. "What the-" Zeus started, Terra by his side. He wasn't able to finish his sentence, as another bolt screamed across the parking lot and blasted him in the chest. Aetrus sighed, before healing Zeus.

"Nice job Zeus," Aetrus called over. "Now she has your power too, but then again it was sort of my fault also…she got Michael's power from when I healed him and gave him a little power boost, but whatever."

"So she has yours, Michael's and Zeus' power?" Tessa asked.

"Yes, and Ian and Taylor's."

"Taylor?" Michael looked over at her, then back at Aetrus. "When did she use her power?"  
"Oh, I just talked to her using her telepathy. Nothing big."

Ostin, who had stayed silent this whole time, finally spoke out. "So, she has 5 electrical powers, and we barely got into a fight?"

"Well, I wouldn't call it _barely,_ but yes, she had 5."

"Great," Michael shook his head. "So only you can fight her?"

Aetrus grinned. "I was the only one who could fight her from the beginning." Michael frowned.

"You bozo's done yet? I'm getting kinda bored," Charlotte yelled fiddling with her nails. The Electroclan looked around, having a silent conversation. Jack cracked his knuckles for emphasis. Aetrus nodded produced his titanium sword in his hand. As a one, they turned and charged the Elgen.

 _19_

The battle was going better than Aetrus expected. He had, of course, charged straight at Charlotte, and know was doing sword-on-sword combat. The rest of the Electroclan ran right at the Elgen, who blasted their guns at them, but they would be quickly over-run. Aetrus just had to take down Charlotte, and then it would be over. Charlotte seemed surprised at the fact that Aetrus' sword was not attached to his hand, and Aetrus was pleased that she had not absorbed his other power yet. They got a feel for one's style, and they both immediately realized Aetrus had the upper hand. He had been fighting with it his whole life, and now that it wasn't a part of his body, he could go faster and be more accurate. Unfortunately, that wouldn't win the battle. Charlotte still sent out electric pulses and bolts, which Aetrus had to dodge. He couldn't change his sword to absorb the blasts also, since Charlotte would gain his ability. Aetrus decided to go animal style. Aetrus slashed and hacked, pressing forward on Charlotte, who didn't seem to care very much, as she could just pulse and be done. Aetrus jabbed once, and let go of his sword. Charlotte thought she saw a mistake and lunged, but Aetrus wasn't there anymore. A mouse scurried through her legs, and Aetrus reappeared, grabbing his sword out of mid-air and going for her neck. Charlotte was just able to parry it, but Aetrus wasn't done. He had the upper hand, and with the Doctor' training, he knew how to use it. Again, he let go of his sword, and suddenly reappeared as a 6-ton African elephant, charging at Charlotte. With his trunk, he grabbed hold of the sword yet again. Charlotte jumped out of the way of his charge, and Aetrus swung his sword directly at Charlotte, as she was in mid-air. She was able to block it, but the force of the impact sent her flying back. Charlotte skid across the pavement, screaming "Gah!" She was able to turn into a cheetah and plant her feet on the ground, before charging at Aetrus, who was back into a human, holding his sword in a defensive stance.

In the other battle, the Elgen was getting destroyed. Aetrus had to look in the corner of his eye, so Charlotte would change focus and copy more powers. Tessa was amplifying Zeus, who was creating absolute havoc on the Elgen forces. Taylor was rebooting guards as well, and Michael throwing electric balls which blew up and shocked everything around them. Ostin was shouting reminders and orders out occasionally, like "Michael, lob one into the back!" or, "Noah! Look out on your left!" which seemed to not really help, as the Electroclan were holding up just fine by themselves.

Charlotte charged Aetrus, who backed up, letting her waste her energy on the offensive. She changed back into human, and slashed her sword directly at Aetrus' face, who parried it easily. "Come on, Char. Is that all you got?" he teased. Charlotte grinned, which Aetrus found kind of disturbing. Charlotte pressed forward, their swords colliding. Suddenly, Charlotte changed into a mouse, and scrambled through his legs, just as Aetrus did before. Aetrus swung around right as Charlotte turned into a tiger, and leaped at him, raking her claws through his stomach. He was expecting another change, but nothing happened, so he was unprepared. Charlotte's claws slashed across him, and Aetrus rolled back in pain. He concentrated on making it heal, and realized what Charlotte was getting prepared for. She was watching Tessa and Zeus, and grinning. "Oh, no…" Aetrus thought aloud. He could see the electricity around Charlotte getting thicker, swirling around. Aetrus was hoping to practice before doing the real deal, but now was not the time. He had one shot at this, and if he messed it up, he was dead. Lightning travels at 220,000 miles per hour, and Aetrus could definitely not move that fast. Aetrus closed his eyes and concentrated, imagining his cells changing, transforming into something completely new. He thought about his cells rearranging, the electricity flowing differently through his cells. The sound of electricity crackled through his ears. Aetrus opened his eyes to get prepared, but it was too late, the sonic boom of the sound barrier being broken echoed across the town. He saw the enhanced lightning speed to his chest, and his eyes were filled with light.

His first thought, ' _I'm dead._ ' Aetrus blinked and then realized he wouldn't be able to if he was dead. The spots in his eyes were disappearing, but the light didn't fade away. Aetrus realized he was on the ground, and slowly stood to his feet, taking in his surroundings. Electricity swirled around him, as if it was a cocoon. Charlotte was flabbergasted, her eyes wide open. Aetrus looked down at his arms, and grinned. Lichtenburg figures were etched in his arm, traveling down to his hand. His clothes were the same, but his body was changed, completely. It wasn't Aetrus, who he was familiar with; the body belonged to Michael Vey.

 _20_

"What the-" Charlotte started, but couldn't seem to finish the sentence. "How did you do that?" Aetrus grinned, pleased that it succeeded.

"I'm a genius," he said. "But that's obvious." Aetrus pondered what to do with all the electricity coursing through him. Then it hit him. _'She still doesn't know about my ability to change atoms, so I could use my electricity for that. I should be able to go really fast now.'_ Charlotte was still staring at him in shock. Aetrus gritted his teeth in concentration, and above Charlotte, a 70-ton, Tiger II tank appeared in the sky. It cast a shadow covering 545.50984252ft2 which Aetrus figured out immediately. Suddenly, Aetrus pitched forward and fell on the ground. The electricity around him was completely gone, and he could barely move. The tank was falling rapidly, Charlotte to stunned to move, and Aetrus practically immobile.

"Michael?!" Taylor's voice rang through Aetrus' ears. Some sound echoed off in the distance but he couldn't make anything of it.

"Zeus!" a voice split through Aetrus' head. Crushed by a tank that he had made. An odd way to die. Aetrus could feel the tank about to hit, when a beam of light hit Aetrus, who flew back as the tank smashed into the ground. Aetrus heard footsteps running over, and used his gradually returning energy to look up. "Are you okay?" Ostin bent down in concern. "How did you get here, Michael?" he bent down to lift Aetrus up and pain seared through his body. He grimaced, but allowed himself to be pulled up. He leaned on Ostin for support. The real Michael and Taylor ran toward Aetrus, followed by Zeus, Tessa, Jack and the rest of the clan.

"How the heck…" Michael said, and then shook his head. "Am I hallucinating?" Taylor walked up to Aetrus and poked him.

"Nope. He seems real enough…" Taylor noticed. "Ian, what's going on?"

"I can talk, you know," Aetrus said, exasperated. Apparently, no one heard him.

"I don't know…" Ian pondered for a bit. "His glow is identical to Michael's…"

"A clone, maybe?" Ostin wondered out loud. "Though if the Elgen made him, he would have attacked. Wait, where's Aetrus?" By now Aetrus had given up, he walked toward the tank. It had used all his energy to create, and he doubted he could turn back to normal in the state he was in. Aetrus walked around the tank, looking for any signs of Charlotte. No luck. The Elgen force was destroyed, practically all of them unconscious. Hatch was huddled between his guards, and retreating quickly into the van, his eyes wild with panic. The tides had turned way to fast. Aetrus bent down to the bottom of the tank, trying to look under. He saw the flicker of light, and stepped back right as a column of flame shot through the top of the tank, searing a whole through the Tiger II.

Aetrus calmly studied the flames shooting up, before he realized the danger. "Charlotte, no!" Aetrus' eyes grew wide as the flames grew whiter and hotter.

"What _is_ this?" Charlotte demanded, still buried under the tank. The column grew wider, inching closer and closer to the gas tank.

"Charlotte, stop!" Aetrus pleaded, frantically running to the tank. "You'll kill yourself!" His words fell on deaf ears. The flames continued to spread. Rain couldn't help this. The flames were easily past 1,500 degrees Fahrenheit, much too hot for any water to cool it down. "Put out the flames, the gas tank will explode!"

"No! I will not stand for any more trickery and lies!" Charlotte screamed. "This _must_ be an illusion!"

"Charlotte, you are perfectly aware that is not an illusion. You're about to commit suicide!" Aetrus yelled in final desperation.

" _LIES!_ " Charlotte hollered. "The Aetrus I know could not have done this!"

"My god, Charlotte!" Aetrus retorted. "Are you this dumb?! This isn't about if I can make a tank or not! This is about you not dying! I've lost too much in my life to lose you too!"

The flames died down slightly. "So you're series?"

"YES!" Aetrus screamed. "My whole family has died because of me, and I don't want to see another F*%^ING person I love go to Heaven!" On that note, Aetrus fell to his knees. "Come on, surly you must see this!"

The underside of the tank was quite, and the column dissipated. The Electroclan stood in shock, looking at Aetrus and the tank. Aetrus heard a shuffling, and the tank slowly moved, as Charlotte started to crawl out. There was one thing that nobody realized. On the inside, the fire was still raging. Smoke leaked through the top of the tank just as Aetrus realized what was about to happen.

"NO!" Aetrus screamed, but it was too late. The tank exploded, sending millions of shards of metal flying everywhere.

 _21_


End file.
